7213.09 - Pedagogy and General Didactics for Teachers

7213.09

Pedagogy and General Didactics for Teachers

15

Although an independent unit, this course is conducted in conjunction with another course, Psychology for Teachers (7211.10). Students will attain thorough practical and theoretical knowledge about issues in pedagogy and general didactics that are important for the teaching vocation. The aim is to help students understand how theory and praxis are intertwined in the fields of pedagogy and didactics. Students will gain insight into a) pedagogical concerns as child rearing and learning, personal formation (”Bildung”), education and socialisation in a societal context, and into b) pedagogical concerns as developing lesson plans, the practice of teaching, evaluating teaching and documenting approaches to teaching and learning outcomes. In this course, students will gain thorough knowledge of • what pedagogy and general didactics are • how pedagogy and general didactics are defined as academic fields • how selected theories have shaped pedagogical studies • how educational systems are structured, with special reference to the Faroese school system • how the concepts child rearing, education and teaching are defined and framed today • the development of pedagogy as a field of study, theoretically, socially and empirically • the changing views on children through history and how these changes have influenced values, viewpoints and goals in pedagogical work • how children learn • the relationship between the concepts of teaching and learning • current ideas on learning, learning environments, approaches to learning and ways of learning • the differences between basic concepts as learning, teaching, situated learning, memorisation, hidden learning and experiential learning • how learning can be planned, implemented, analysed, evaluated and documented • how the cultural, social and linguistic background of children influence how they learn • the pedagogical challenges in a multicultural society • how new media greatly influence approaches to learning today • why anthropological pedagogy is an increasingly prominent field in late modern societies

The course consists of 6 main parts, which in turn are made up of lectures, oral presentations, group work and other practical exercises 1. The first part focuses on what pedagogy and general didactics are, and how these are understood as fields of study and as science, and, as such, lays the foundation for the course. Students will be made aware of how what they already have learned about scientific theory relates to pedagogy and general didactics as fields of study. 2. The second part is on child rearing. Theorists who are of particular importance when child rearing is considered will be discussed. We will also discuss how our understanding of children and childhood has changed over time, and how this has influenced child rearing. Pierre Bourdieu’s understanding of learning, schooling and society in general will be discussed, as well as Michel Foucault’s ideas about power, knowledge and development. 3. The topic of the third part is the school and postmodern society. The variety of socialisation processes in contemporary society will be discussed, and our particular focus will be on how these influence learning, teaching and schooling today. 4. This part focuses on personal formation (”Bildung”) as a concept and its importance as a guide and goal for child rearing and schooling in selected historical periods. We will, in addition, consider to what extent the notion of personal formation appears in the purpose statements for the Faroese school and in the actual teaching of the various subjects in the schools. 5. In the fifth part we turn to general and subject specific questions in didactics. Among the issues discussed are how teaching and learning can be organised by using recognised didactic guidelines, what the school’s task is and how this task can be defined with reference to education, work life and personal development. In addition, students will work on the concepts curriculum, education, various teaching methods and pupil oriented teaching. 6. The last part is on the school as an organisation. We will consider both the overall educational system in the Faroes and the structure of the local school. Questions we will consider are for example the role of the national administration, the local civic school authority, the school principal, teachers and parents.

Students are assessed on two projects. (1) On completion of the course, each student will write a report on what the course has been about. (2) After completing their course, the students have a 3-week practicum. After the practicum, the students will write a research paper that covers both this course and the course in psychology. The paper should be either grounded in the practicum or make reference to it. The research paper is a group project and will be defended orally. The evaluation is two-fold. (1) Students will be awarded the grade Passed or Not passed for the report. Internal examiners will be used. (2) The research paper, which covers both this course and the course in psychology, will be defended orally. Grades will be awarded according to the current grading scale. External examiners will be used.